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Show How Chriflt Spo~tfe it a Dove ,he Doves to the clt{troflbf rock., and to the fecret places of the Hairs: and thus the E xprcl!ion denoteth the Churches obfcurity, and fuch may be the !late of the true Church of Chrill. This thrnws me upon the Controverfy betwixt the Paptj!r and us, 1Yhelher Chrijl; Church muff alw•)'! bnnftble,that is,confpicuous to the World) h is a quelliofl whoch now a-days by the RomiCh Emi! fories is got into every C•tfec-boufl. Let me therefore fpeak a word oi two to ir. 1 . The quell ion is not, Whether Chri/1 hat!J had a true Church at aU timu 1 Some of their impudeRt Orators will tell you that we deny rhar, but let them produce one Protellant Author if they can, and their great Cardinal BrUarmine doth us the right to confefs that we grant this; though we fay this or that particular Chmch may tail • which they muH confcfs roo , or find us a true Church amongll the Turks, for we know there· were feven true Churches there in Saint John's rime. 2. Sec~ndly, Thequeltion is not, whether Chrill hath had tJ lrue vi(ible Ch11rch i~t aU timrr. We do believe that in all Ages Chrill hath had and will have amongll men on earth a trHe Church as well as an invifible Church in Heaven. lltU•rm. in q•. BeUarmine comes more ruundly to his bufinefs, telling us that de Eccle[. by the Church, he doth not underlland rhi• or rhar man, bur a multitude, in which there are pr.elati & {ubdili, Prelates and People. . 3· Thirdly. If by his PrLlati he doth not mean Mitred Prelata and Bilhopr, but Officers and Governours of the Church; we hardly believe there ever was, or ever will be fuch a flare of the World in which Chrill in that fenfe hath not had, and !hall not have even in that fenfe a true vi./ible Church. 4• Bur the quellion is, Whtthrr Chri{t bath always bad, andjhaD have a certain vifible Church tH one pl•ce·; or which can derive a certain fuccel!ion of perfons from the Apollles to the prefent Rulers in it. "this we deny. Lallly, We deny, Thlt Chrill in all Ages hath had, and mull have fome particular Church that Cha!l be [plendtdt~, ac g/.,.io(a , fplendid and glorious; and as a City fer upon an Hill giving fuch a light that all may fee, know and ad m~re her. This exre1 oal fplendor we fay, is not dfential to the tr ue Church ot Chrill. ~o inward fplendor is that lies in purity of Doctrine and W01lh1p (which yet alfo may vary in degrees, but an external fplendor con-in the cleft~ of the ltocft.: confilling in the Peace, Triumph, AouriChing co~dition of Prelates aud Gnvernours, and multitude of Profd fon openly owmng and appearing to own the.Gofpel, is ~ot. Here's the tr~e hm.~e of the Controverfies betwtxt the Pap11ts and us : w e fay, fhere IS no Dov ... fChriflr, bur may he in the clefti of the rockr, in thefmel piacu oft he }birr: Where was the externallpkndor oft he ] ew1fh Church in Eli?s rime when the Ark w1s taken, and the ~?,ood woman 'named her child lcbabod, 'The glory i< depirtedfrom lfr"l? ·Where was it when the Ark fo long r<lled in the houfe ol Amtllaclab? Nay, where was the outward fplendor of the Church from Solomon's rime efpecially in Ahab's rime , when Eluu com· plained thai he was' left alone, when Obadi•h hid the Prophets by fifties in Caves> where was the Gofpel-Church till Chnll was thirty years of age? After Chrills rime, where was the external fp!endor of the Church for 300 years until Cnnjfa"t!n• arofe? yet all this while we believe, and it may be ( were It worth the while we have (o much left us in writings:) we could Chew them wher~ all along rhefe !tlrbulent rimes, there were in feveral places numbers of Chriflians under Pallots, owmng Chr1ll ~nd.the. fame 'Doctrine l)f· the Gofpcl in oppol!tion to rhe!r abommable loon· vat ions that we do : All they can pretend ro,ts,rhat they can boall of a Succeilion from Peter to the Chair of Rome; when it cor;nes to be tried it proves a beallly one; many fuch perfons as Chul\ never fent' nor Peter woul<l never have owned ( and if they had a Female-Pope o~two-which their own Writers affirm, furely the fucce[ion faikd there tbo: )' ' hf.Jwe.,.er we know how eafie it IS for them who have had &orh. the liberty, and tl\~ impu_dence to put in and out into Writings of the Ancients what they pleafe, (as. they know hath been fufficiently proved to them: ) to make their own pedigree as they litl ;. and · a!l rhe wonder 1s, that at thofe advantages they have made it• no better than they have done ro ferve rhei'r purpofes. Thoy vainly glory in a fucceffi •m of perfons, and ·pretend rh~y can nam~ them (_how truly we know not nor the truth of their Heralds 10 recordmg; we are fure a& to keeping of other Records, they have evidenced :hemfdves falfe e- ' nough.) We glor·y in a•Jucuffion of Dollr~ne• (whiCh ~e an fure they cannot glnrv. in: Y A:ndl we do·be!ll!ve that• Chulll\~th always had and Chall always ha-ve a company ofChrtihans m the World a~d under the iofoectk>n of Chrills Officers, who have owned'rhe true Faitbwhi~h we profefs, though rhe llate of this people |